Unfortunately the company (Soundart) has ceased to exist long ago, and the people who made the Chameleon hardware, firmware and software (the HW/OS support library) have moved on many years ago. Thus, it is not likely that we will see those bits open sourced.

However, do we really need that? IMO, it's not essential. As is stands it is as open as most of us need. I can't se any pressing reasons why the support library needs to be opened - it does the chores needed to support the development and running of soundskins. We have full access to everything else. On the hardware side there isn't any mysterious circuitry - it's a fairly standard 56k based DSP+CODEC+CPU architecture, and has the potential to be be hacked as such, even without the schematics. Datasheets and a multimeter is pretty much all that's needed to map out the details.

So my thought is to combine the DSP EVM module and Tower (ColdFire) system to make
a Chameleon clone. Just need to add a front panel, MIDI interface and maybe some
DRAM/Flash memory.

This is why I would need the source code and circuit schematics. Otherwise I would
need some method to translate the Soundskin files into a download format for
the DSP EVM module (*.cld format for JTAG/OnCE?). These EVMs have flash memory
that could burn the Soundskin for stand-alone use.

Maybe instead of the ColdFire as a controller, a VSTi plug-in could mimic
the Chameleon front panel and send MIDI Sysex commands to the DSP EVM for
Soundskin control?

The Tower system could also act as a web-server. A web-application could be
designed to mimic the Chameleon front panel as well.Last edited by mjkirk12 on Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:06 am; edited 1 time in total

Ah, I see - cloning the Chami. Yeah, it's a bit much to reverse engineer the complete system on a hobby basis.

If nothing else I can tell you how the loading and running of a soundskin hangs together:

The soundskin files are basically Coldfire object files which have the Chameleon support library linked in. The skins are downloaded to the host Coldfire by MIDI sysex or a tool which is part of the SDK. The Coldfire in turn writes the skin to FLASH or stores it in RAM for debug mode. The Coldfire bootloader then boots and loads the Coldfire object code. The object file contains an image of the DSP code in the form of a byte array. Your host code calls the library function dsp_init(...) to upload the DSP code and boot the DSP. All this is supported by the Chameleon host firmware and the host library. The Coldfire firmware contains the skin- and boot- loaders, and the host library contains the functions to talk to the DSP, the MIDI port and the front panel. The front panel is managed by a separate MCU which is connected to the Coldfire by a serial port.

So, reverse engineering all this to work with existing soundskins on a different hardware architecture would occupy a seasoned hacker for quite a few afternoons...

I would really recommend hunting down a used Chameleon if you want to run the existing soundskins. Of course it's also an exceedingly fun and friendly development platform

The DSP has 4MWords of DRAM with a word size of 24 bit mapped into 0x400000- 0x7FFFFF. The rest of the DSP memory map is described in the 56303 manual (internal SRAM and registers). The CODEC sits at one of the DSP serial ports, ESSI0. There are no libraries on the DSP side, i.e. it is an open and blank slate.

The memory map of the ColdFire is not documented as such, but its has 12MWords of DRAM with a word size of 16 bit and 1MB of FLASH. The rest can be found in the 5206 manual. What's left can possibly be found by dissecting the host libraries, in particular the lib files "chameleon.a" and "rtems.a".

The complete SDK and docs can be found here (you probably know that already ).

Wow - good find, Mike! They actually use the exact Chameleon block diagram, lifted straight from page 3 of this Soundart document

To my knowledge, Freescale does not have any more info on the Chami than was originally published (I'm actually quite certain about that, having been in dialogue with the Soundart CEO until they closed down, unless Paul Maddox has any other info (Paul?)). My guess is that they used that as a case study since it probably is the only 56k based production synth/processor that has it's details published for anyone to see. Nice to see Freescale paying homage to it though - respect to Soundart!

While we're talking about variations on the Chamelon, this MK-II model was the last thing being worked on. Unfortunately (and sadly) there was little interest. The project was pulled and SA eventually closed down.

I've been meaning to check out the Tonecore hardware and SDK, but until now it seemed like you had to buy one to get the docs. However, I just found (at least some of) the docs posted in the Line 6 forum, here.

Yes, I downloaded and installed the ToneCore software over the weekend - it includes these manuals - with schematics!

Looking at the schematics, it occurred to me that any standard Line 6 ToneCore pedal is only lacking a USB connector, as compared to the ToneCore Developers kit. With some minor effort, any Tonecore pedal could be modified to add the USB wiring.

So, I think I may pick up a working ToneCore pedal (eBay used) for about US$50 and get the US$35 ToneCore programmable module from Line 6.
After modifying the ToneCore pedal to add USB, I think I would have the same setup as the $200 developer's kit. More in line with my budget...

Received the ToneCore programmable module (TCPM) from Line 6 (US$40) and a picked up a used ToneCore (dock) pedal (Guitar Center $30).

Drilled a hole in the side for a USB cable to pass thru (may add a connector later). I soldered 3 wires: GND, USB+, USB- to the 'midboard' in the ToneCore dock.

SUCCESS! I am able to use the Tonecore DSP developer software tool to flash program a new effect to this pedal.

So, it appears that any Tonecore pedal can be modified to add USB and serve as a ToneCore developers kit - but you must buy a TCPM from Line 6.
The standard ToneCore modules (e.g. Constrictor, Echo Park, etc.) can not be reprogrammed.

Now I may try to port one of the open-source effect/synth from Chameleon to the Tonecore and see how it works.

The Freescale microcontroller on the TCPM has 2 serial ports - wonder if I can add a MIDI input and do some basic note on/off generation? A Chameleon Stomp Pedal?

EDIT: Nov. 8, 2010: Looks like the real cheap ones are gone, but there are still used ones from about eight bucks and new ones starting at twenty. Keep checking back, seems like it changes every day...

I am expecting delivery of a Kinetis Tower system later this month from a Freescale training class I took last year.

Rather than starting from scratch, I would prefer to start with what was known to be working and migrate it to the new platform - Kinetis (or Coldfire) with DSP EVM or SoundBite. This would allow reuse of the current soundskins.

Could any of the original Chameleon developers be contacted and persuaded to share the source code or schematics of the original design? Or is this still held private by the company's founders? Did someone buy the rights to the Chameleon design when they ceased operations?

yes, that was the goal of the QiX project, an updated and improved Chameleon.

I've got myself a K60, and soundbite and I intend to do some stuff with that, as I still feel the Chameleon concept is worth exploring more.

None of the current sound skins would work on the soundbite DSP without a lot of rework, the memory model is quite different, so you'd need to a lot of work, in short, it'd be quicker to start from scratch.

not wishing to open the flood gates, but, I do have the code and schematics. for the Chameleon. I'll warn you, a lot of it is in spanish, and a lot of it is uncommented.
And bear in mind that the K60 is a totally different CPU to the coldfire, so you'd have to re-write that code too.

I thought about just porting the code over, but I honestly feel you'd be doing the improved CPUs a great injustice by running old, outdated firmware on them.

Hi Mike,
Have you got any progress with your Line6 DSP development outside Chameleon project? Is there any place there Line6 developers shares their work? I didn't find any community by quick look. And this project looks not popular. May be I'm not right, please confirm.

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